


All These Little Games

by jwdish98



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Aromantic Niall, Asexual Harry, Asexual Louis, Asexual Niall, Asexuality, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, girl Zayn, girl harry, girl louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 07:23:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6109384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jwdish98/pseuds/jwdish98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were four things that Louis learned very early on in this whole mess. </p><p>One, Harry Styles was absolutely beautiful. The most beautiful person to ever live, probably. Two, Louis was kind of in love with her already. Somehow. She couldn’t help it, really. Three, Harry absolutely didn’t feel the same way about her. </p><p>And, four, everything-- absolutely <em>everything</em>-- was Niall’s fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All These Little Games

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone~  
> most of my notes are at the end if you're looking for my rambling and stuff.  
> this is just a really quick thank you for clicking on this work, and I hope you enjoy!

Louis hated parties.

They were really just an excuse for a lot of people to go get drunk and get laid. Louis wasn’t dumb. She’d been to enough fraternity parties (she blamed Zayn entirely for all of her past mistakes) to know what they were like. They weren’t charming.

And, yet, Zayn still managed to get her away from her laptop, into some cute outfit-- and _okay_ , Louis might not be going to the party to woo a frat boy (because ew) but she did take great pride in her sense of fashion, and fuck it all if she wasn’t going to go out of the house without everything about her being on point-- and into the fraternity house. It was honestly something that she might have applauded Zayn for, if she were a bystander of the situation, but as it was, Louis kind of just wanted to whack her best friend upside the head with the nearest object and get on with her night.

She had better things to do then get tipsy at a party where the music was too loud, the lights were too low, the guys were without morals and disgustingly handsy, and the girls were only there to flirt and try to get laid.

“Liam is here,” Zayn shouted in her ear, and Louis flinched, turning around to make a face at her.

“I know he’s here,” Louis replied, “he’s all you’ve been talking about for the past two hours.”

Zayn arched an eyebrow as if to say _you have no proof_. Louis figured that was just because Zayn rather liked to pretend she was cool with her thick-framed hipster glasses and her leather skirts and high heels and perfectly styled hair and dark smoldering eyes and red, red lips, but she was actually kind of just a mess when it came to one jock by the name of Liam Payne. Because, honestly, Louis had lots of proof and Zayn fucking knew it.

Louis made a face back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Oh, Lou, you have to come to this party with me,” she mocked quitely, a smirk growing on her lips, “Liam is going to be there, and I just have to impress him. Please, _please_ help me pick out my outfit. Oh god, what if he doesn’t like this color? What if he thinks I look ugly? Shit, I have to do my makeup. Can I borrow your fancy eyeshadow, Lou, since it’s better than mine? Should I wear my glasses tonight? What if he doesn’t like girls with glasses? Oh, fuck, _Loooou_ , what am I going to do?”

Zayn shoved a napkin in her mouth.

“Mpfh-- Hey, what the fuck?”

“He’s walking this way,” Zayn hissed quietly. Her arms flailed about in the most ridiculous motion, and Louis tried really hard not to laugh at her. She honestly did. Just because she didn’t succeed didn’t mean she hadn’t tried. “Will you shut up and just help me?”

“Fine,” Louis drawled out. She fixed her hair and turned to face Liam, the wonderfully sarcastic greeting she'd just thought up dying on her tongue as she laid eyes on Liam and the two people he had with him.

And well-- Zayn and her mother might be the only two people who knew, because Louis wasn't really the sort to talk about the deep things with people that didn't matter to her, but Louis was ace. It wasn't a big deal. It had never been a big deal. She’d had to explain to her mom a bit, maybe, but Zayn had accepted it with a shrug and a smile.

Just because she was ace, however, regardless of whatever ridiculous misconceptions people who knew nothing about asexuality could try to come up with, didn't mean she couldn't appreciate beauty when she was presented with it.

And the girl who was with Liam Payne was kind of absolutely stunning.

Like _holy shit you must be an angel_ kind of stunning.

“U-Um.” Louis was absolutely not stuttering. She was Louis fucking Tomlinson. She didn't stutter. Ever. “Hi. Uh, hey. What's up, Payno?”

Liam was making a weird face at her. He kind of looked constipated, and Louis probably would have laughed if she wasn't so preoccupied with trying as hard as possible not to openly stare at the angel right next to him.

“Nothing much?” Liam offered with a confused laugh. He glanced over Louis’s shoulder and turned red. Louis tried her hardest to not laugh, and instead ended up coughing to cover her giggles. “Oh! Hi there, Zayn. How are you doing? Alright?”

Zayn’s mouth fell open a fraction of an inch, like she was surprised Liam was talking to her for whatever bizarre reason, before she collected herself and smiled calmly at Liam. “I’m doing well. Thank you, Liam.”

Liam grinned, his face turning even more red. “That's good. That's really good. I’m glad.”

Louis was going to resort to the completely childish method of locking the two of them in the closet if they didn't resolve their sexual tension soon enough. Honestly it was disgusting. They were disgusting. Not that Louis really thought that Liam and Zayn getting together would make them any less disgusting, but it was kind of a moot point no matter what.

“You going to introduce us lovely ladies to your friends, Leemo?” Louis chirped sassily, cocking her hip out and resting her hand on it. “Don't be rude now.”

“Oh!” Liam blinked, mouth falling open a bit and then smiled, as if realizing that she was joking. He let out a nervous laugh and then blushed again. “Oh right. Of course. Um, guys, this is Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. Uh, Zayn and I have a bunch of classes together and Louis is Zayn’s roommate. Uh, and our class Vice President.”

Louis clicked her tongue. “I’ll forever be bitter that I don't get to boss you around, Mr. President.”

Liam snorted. “You do anyways, Lou.”

Well, Louis couldn't deny that.

The girl with Liam giggled, and Louis felt herself staring again.

Shit.

It was the other girl’s fault, though. She should stop being beautiful. Maybe if she wasn’t so beautiful, then Louis wouldn’t stare at her. So it definitely wasn’t her fault. Not at all.

“Lou and um, uh, Zayn. This is my step-sister Harry Styles and her best friend Niall Horan.” Liam motioned to the girl and the blonde boy with him respectively.

“Nice to meet both of you,” Niall offered easily.

Harry smiled, brushing a curl behind her ear, and tilted her head backwards a bit. “Yeah, it really is. Liam has told me a lot about both of you.”

A horrible squawking noise escaped Liam and Zayn turned the most obnoxious red. Harry was laughing into her hand, and Louis decided right at that very moment that Harry was maybe the most amazing person to ever exist.

No doubt about it.

“Ignore her, she’s embarrassing.” Liam laughed nervously.

Zayn nodded. “Of course, right,” she agreed quietly. “Yeah. I... Yeah.”

Fuck, this was just sad, wasn’t it?

Louis blinked at them for a few seconds before she shrugged and grabbed Harry’s hand. “Well, Harry and I are going to go become best friends, see you two later,” she chirped easily, tugging Harry away from the group and heading towards the table with snacks on it. Niall looked mortified to be left alone with Liam and Zayn, but he quickly latched onto someone he apparently knew and left them alone.

Louis could only hope-- the _world_ could only hope, really-- that they’d sort out their shit while they were alone.

“Sorry about that.” Louis turned to Harry with a delicate laugh, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “I just couldn’t stand being around them anymore. They’re awfully gross, aren’t they?”

“Disgusting,” Harry agreed with a bright smile. “I honestly don’t know how you stand ever being around them.”

Louis giggled. She actually giggled. Fuck, her reputation as someone who was actually cool and didn’t get flustered around pretty girls was going down the drain tonight, wasn’t it? “I usually don’t,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when they get their shit together. They better stay at Liam’s place all the time.”

“Hearing people get it on is pretty disgusting.” Harry pushed her hair behind her ears again and smiled. “Do you want a drink, Louis?”

“It really is,” Louis lamented quietly. “And I’d love one, thanks.”

Harry beamed at her, and Louis kind of melted. Fuck. She had dimples.

That was absolutely not okay.

Accepting the drink that Harry handed to her, Louis gave it a cursory glance before taking a long sip of it. Harry watched her the whole time, her green eyes wide and soft, and Louis kind of wondered what it would feel like to hold Harry’s hand and braid her hair.

“Hopefully they won’t bother you too much if they actually get their shit together,” Harry offered with a laugh. “Lord knows Liam is completely gone for Zayn, though. I don’t think he’s shut up about her for the past two years.”

Louis let out the most ridiculous snort. “Zayn’s just as bad. She ranted for an hour today about how she needed my help to get ready because she needed to make sure Liam would like what she was wearing and her hair style. When I told her that I didn’t think he’d really care what she did with her hair she threatened to kick me out of our apartment.”

Harry threw her head back and let out a sharp bark of laughter, her hair tumbling over her shoulders.

Louis was maybe just a little bit in love.

She downed the rest of her drink quickly and got herself a second one. She didn’t exactly know what she was drinking, but she figured she’d be alright. Louis could probably drink Harry under the table if she wanted. She’d gotten wasted with Zayn enough that her alcohol tolerance was probably better than most people’s. Louis might look like a lightweight, but she had worked hard to get her alcohol tolerance up, so there was no fucking way she’d let that talent of hers go to waste.

Maybe she was trying to impress Harry just a little bit. Not that she really even thought her alcohol tolerance would impress Harry but, fuck, Louis was impressive, okay? She deserved someone to laugh at her brilliant jokes and admire her hard earned alcohol tolerance and brush her hair and cuddle with her.

And if she’d already started picturing Harry doing all those things, than she was the only one who had to know.

. . .

Louis honestly had no idea how she had ended up drunk and on the roof of the fraternity house, but she figured it was probably a safe bet to blame everything on Harry Styles and her beautiful dimples.

It was a fair thing to say, really, because fuck it all, Louis would probably do anything for those fucking dimples, and she’d only known Harry Styles for all of two hours and twenty three minutes.

(No, she absolutely was not keeping track of that on purpose. Louis was cooler than that. She was Louis fucking Tomlinson. She was the epitome of cool.)

(That was lie, and even she knew it, but she wasn’t about to admit to that. Nope.)

“Haz,” Louis slurred out quietly. “The stars are so pretty, aren’t they?” Harry didn’t really respond, just curled in closer to her and giggled into her shoulder. It was adorable. Louis poked her forehead. “I kind of want to give one to you, but you’re prettier than all of them so there’s no point, you know?”

Harry lifted her head, her flushed cheeks and wide glassy eyes brightening with the force of her smile. “You really think so?” She whispered.

“Yeah.” Louis nodded. An over-the-top nod kind of thing. It was really all quite ridiculous, but she didn’t mind in the least. Louis would likely spend the rest of her life being ridiculous for Harry, if that was allowed. Was that allowed? She hoped it was. “I think I’d do a lot of things for you,” Louis admitted with a giggle.

Harry looked as if she’d melted into a puddle, and Louis couldn’t help but poke her on the noise and quietly whisper, “boop.”

She was mess. She was totally embarrassing herself.

Harry giggled again, and Louis decided she really didn’t care if she was making a fool of herself. Almost anything was worth that soft laugh of Harry’s. Louis would make a fool of herself everyday if Harry would continue to smile at her like that.

“You’re beautiful,” Louis rambled quietly into Harry’s curls. They were really soft. Louis paused. “I want to braid your hair,” she continued. “Can I braid your hair, Hazza? Please let me braid your hair.”

The idea seemed delightful to Harry, because she sat up and clapped her hands. Louis took a long moment-- she blamed every embarrassing thing she was doing on how wasted she was-- to sit there and just admire how beautiful Harry looked in the moonlight. Her eyes were so big and green, her hair long as it curled over her shoulders.

Reaching her hands out, Louis moved so she was sitting behind Harry, and brushed her fingers through her thick curls. Holy shit. It was so soft. Louis spent a brief moment wondering if Harry’s hair was thick enough to make a pillow, before she shook her head, pulling her trusty hairband off of her wrist and separating Harry’s hair into enough different sections for her to be able to make a decent french braid.

“I’ve never met anyone like you,” Harry said quietly while Louis began braiding her hair. “You’re so nice and so funny and I didn’t really think I’d ever meet someone I wanted to be with, you know? Like-- Like I knew that I wanted to find someone that I liked and could maybe see myself falling in love with but I think I was starting to doubt that I ever would.”

Louis was drunk enough that she just nodded like all of that made sense to her.

“Your hair is so soft.” Louis pouted at the back of Harry’s head, regardless of the fact that Harry couldn’t see the motion at all. “I want to spend the rest of my life braiding your hair.”

Harry giggled, and when Louis finished tying the hairband at the bottom of the braid, she leaned her head back against Louis’s shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut. Louis thought she looked even more like an angel now than she had earlier, ethereal in the starlight.

She hummed quietly. “The stars,” Harry said quietly. “They’re beautiful, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah they are,” Louis agreed with a small smile.

Harry grinned a bit in return and then declared boldly, “Your smile is brighter. Your eyes are, uh, shinier. You know? You burn brighter than every star. It’s like, um. We’re all made up of stardust, right? I think you’re made of more stardust than everyone else, though.”

They were so drunk. They were so, _so_ drunk, but nothing had ever been more perfect.

“You’re not made of stardust,” Louis whispered into Harry’s curls. “You’re the moon, Harry Styles. She’s the most beautiful, and you’re the only one who could ever compete with her.”

This was just becoming embarrassing, wasn’t it?

Harry grabbed Louis’s arm to pull her back so she was lying down again and curled up on her chest. “Why did Liam never introduce before now?” She whispered quietly.

“Because Liam is fucking dumb.” The words were impressively steady, not at all slurred, and Louis beamed once she got them out. Harry snorted, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes shining. “He should’ve known that we would get along,” Louis declared, her words blurring together the more she rambled. “I’m funny and you’re funny and we laugh at each other’s jokes. And you like cuddling as much as I do. And you have really, really soft hair.”

Harry poked her nose and curled back into her, halting any further rambling that Louis might have started. Which was probably a good thing, really. Louis figured she would have embarrassed herself even more than she already had if she kept talking, and that wasn’t something she really wanted to deal with.

“We should, uh.” Louis paused. “We should maybe move somewhere else.” It was the last thing she wanted to do, because moving away from Harry seemed like the most awful decision in the world. The small part of her brain that was still functioning logically, though, knew that it was probably necessary at this point. “We don’t want to fall asleep on the roof, Haz.”

Harry hummed quietly and looked up at her with bright eyes. “Okay, Lou. Whatever you say.”

Yeah, Louis was definitely going to keep her.

Louis didn’t move for a very long moment. She just held Harry in her arms, her eyes closed. “I hope this stays as beautiful as it feels right now,” Louis whispered into Harry’s hair.

Harry’s only response was a quiet snore.

. . .

The cafe that Louis had found herself in was small and warm. It was cozy, really, and Louis was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere of it. She was even more surprised that she had yet to come into the small coffee shop. She was an avid visitor of the cafes on campus, usually after her morning classical dance classes.

Tea was always a necessity after a good few hours of working out.

Humming quietly to herself, Louis grabbed a hairband off of her wrist and twisted her hair up into a bun. The line wasn’t too long, so hopefully she’d be able to get back to her apartment and take a long shower before she had to go to her next class today.

The front of the line moved up, and Louis leaned around the man in front of her and felt her heart stop when she noticed the girl who was standing behind the counter, chatting easily with the customer at the front of the line, a flower crown perched on top of her hair.

Fuck.

Of course it would be Harry Styles.

Louis could already feel a nervous blush rising on her cheeks.

People didn’t really make her nervous often, so this was kind of a new thing for her, but Louis was determined to make this go as smoothly as possible. She and Harry had hit it off pretty easily. Hopefully this wouldn’t be too difficult, then, but Louis couldn’t help but feel nerves. Harry was lovely, and Louis didn’t think she’d ever be okay with losing her.

Which was kind of ridiculous, because Louis barely knew her. Not that that really mattered. Anyone as lovely as Harry Styles would make Louis nervous, she figured. It was just something that couldn’t be helped at this point. Louis was a nervous mess whenever she was around Harry Styles. It was just a fact.

An embarrassing fact, but a fact nonetheless.

The line moved again, and Louis made a nervous noise in the back of her throat, tapping her foot against the ground impatiently.

Screw this. She just wanted her tea.

Louis finally reached the front of the line, and she paused, hesitating just a bit as she stared up at Harry. Harry’s mouth dropped open in surprise, her eyes a little wide. “Louis. Uh. Hey?”

“Hi,” Louis blurted out. Her face was probably totally red. Shit. “Hey, uh. Hi Harry. How are you?”

It took a good few seconds for Harry to finally move. She just kept blinking at Louis, and Louis kind of wanted to go hide. She’d absolutely just embarrassed the shit out of herself. Brilliant.

“Hey,” Harry offered quietly. “I’m good. What can I get you, Louis?”

That wasn’t exactly the response Louis had expected.

She hadn’t even gotten a smile.

“Um.” Louis coughed. “I’ll just have a yorkshire tea, thanks. And, um, and a blueberry muffin?”

Harry nodded, tapping away at the cash register. “That’ll be eight dollars and twenty nine cents, please.”

Louis handed over the money without saying anything, and Harry accepted the change, ducking over the cash register so that her hair spilled over her shoulders. She looked lovely, a kind of homely beautiful that was so warm, and Louis almost wanted to cry.

“Um, I--” Harry glanced up again, blinking at her slowly, and Louis cut herself off, nodding uncomfortably. “Okay,” she whispered. “Right. Okay, then. I’ll, um. I’ll see you around then, Haz.”

There was a twitch of something in Harry’s face, then, an uncomfortable sort of sadness, and Louis wanted to hug her, but she just accepted the muffin that was being handed to her and moved across the cafe.

What the hell had she done wrong, then?

Louis had honestly thought that there had been something between the two of them. Some kind of connection that meant something. Evidently, though, she was the only one who had felt it, seeing as Harry could barely stand to look at her right now. It left an uncomfortable feeling in Louis’s stomach. She kind of wanted to leave without her tea, just to get away from Harry as soon as possible, but then she’d probably just end up looking really dumb.

Not that that didn’t happen on a daily basis anyways.

A soft sigh escaped Louis, and she crossed her arms over her chest, curling into herself as much as possible.

She probably should have been less surprised by her luck, at this point. That didn’t really make the whole thing any less annoying, though.

Louis had kind of started to fancy spending the rest of her life braiding Harry’s hair and holding her hand.

Harry had longer fingers than her. Their hands seemed like they’d fit together.

The sound of her name being called had Louis jolting a bit, and she blinked slowly before moving to grab her tea from the counter, whispering a quick, “thank you” to the man who had handed it to her. She shot a glance at Harry before leaving the shop, shaking her head as she left.

So much for that, then.

. . .

Louis had only ever talked to Niall twice in her entire life. Well, three times, if she counted the party two weeks ago where she’d given him tickets to the dance recital that was in a few weeks, but Louis had kind of wanted to forget about everything that happened that night. So when she opened the door to her and Zayn’s apartment-- currently clad in a pale oversized t-shirt and her boyshort underwear, with her make-up kind of sloppily done and a messy pile of hair that was attempting to be a bun thrown on top of her head-- and found herself face to face with the chipper blond, Louis felt herself frown in confusion.

“Hey!” Niall cheered easily, and skipped past her into the living room.

“Um.” Louis frowned. How did Niall even know where they lived? Why was he even here? “Hi, Niall. How are you?”

Niall turned and grinned at her, sweeping her up into a hug. “I’m good,” he said excitedly, barely even pausing to breathe. “Okay, so. I may have kind of figured out where you lived from Liam because I told him I needed to talk to you about some funding stuff, but that was kind of lie.”

“Right, sure,” Louis offered, arching an eyebrow. This conversation really wasn’t making any sense at all. “Why are you here, then, Niall?”

Niall cleared his throat and shot Louis a look that read _you’re being dumb_ and offered, “I’m a supporter of true love in its most pure forms, Louis.”

Louis almost pointed out that that really didn’t clarify anything, but she figured that wouldn’t really help when it came to Niall. From the (all of three) conversations she’d had with him, Louis had kind of realized that it was best to just see where he went with things.

“Okay, sure,” she agreed blandly.

“Liam and Zayn are in love,” Niall cried, waving his arms around. “They have a disgusting amount of sexual tension. And, as someone who is asexual, I can say that it’s deeply disturbing, but in a like, gross and adorable kind of way?”

 _I know_ , Louis almost said.

She didn’t.

She couldn’t.

Instead, Louis just snorted into the palm of her hand. “So what’s your plan here, Niall?”

“We have to make sure they get their heads out of their asses and start dating. I need to be saved from their grossness. C’mon, Lou, that’s obvious.”

“You’re so dumb,” Louis drawled out. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip to the side, head tilting backwards as she looked up at Niall. (Which, okay-- fuck being short. Niall wasn’t even that tall and she still had to look up at him.)

Niall waved his hand about and gave her a light shove. “You gotta help me, Louis.”

Normally, Louis would have listed off the one million other things she had to do-- she was busy, after all-- but instead she just sighed and rolled her eyes. “What’s your plan, then? Are you going to try and lock them in a closet together?”

The horrified look on Niall’s face was probably answer enough. “What the fuck? C’mon. You know that that never works in movies. Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not st--”

“What we need to do,” Niall interrupted calmly, a wicked grin spreading across his face. Louis suddenly felt terrified. “What we need to do is have someone close to them be in a relationship, so they see them being cute together and get jealous.”

Yeah, scared was probably a good feeling for this conversation.

Louis yanked her shirt downwards, an uncomfortable look on her face. “Are you saying you want to pretend to be in a relationship with me, Niall?”

Niall opened his mouth, paused, and blinked slowly. After a long pause, he threw his head back and let out a wild cackle. “No, oh god no,” he breathed. Louis couldn’t help but feel relieved. Niall shook his head. “No, see. The problem is that Liam knows I’m asexual and aromantic, right?”

“Right,” Louis agreed, even though she hadn’t known that herself before now.

“So obviously me being in a fake relationship wouldn’t be convincing to him at all. Ah, so I need you to pretend to be in a relationship with someone instead.”

Louis nodded along, not really paying attention to what Niall was saying. When she finally processed the words, she let out a sharp squeak, eyes narrowing. “What the fuck, Niall?”

Niall gave her an innocent grin. Louis grabbed Zayn’s book from where she’d left it on the table and smacked Niall with it. The squawking noise that he let out was ridiculous, but entirely worth it.

“It’s a great idea,” Niall offered calmly. “Right? Look, Zayn and Liam are totally in love. They just need to see someone else being a happy couple and then get said advice from that happy couple on how to be a happy couple, and then they’ll figure their own shit out and it’ll be perfect.”

“Was I supposed to follow that?” Louis quipped lightly, pursing her lips. Niall gave her a look, and Louis rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, okay.” She sighed. This was so dumb. “I’ll do it, I guess. Just... This won’t be too intense, right? Just some hand holding and maybe kissing?”

The excitement on Niall’s face was absolutely terrifying. “Yeah, yeah, that’s it exactly. I mean, you’ll have to come up with a cover story to tell Liam and Zayn, but like. Yes.”

“Okay. Okay just--” This was all too much for her. She was going to lose her mind, and it was all going to be thanks to Niall Horan. Louis made a quiet noise of frustration and pressed a hand against her forehead as if to push back the pressure that was building into a headache. “Who do you want me to pretend to date, then, Niall?”

Niall grinned wickedly. “You’ve met Harry Styles, right?”

. . .

Louis had passed the point of freaking out and had gone into full blown clean-up mode.

She was stress cleaning. Fuck.

Honestly, Louis had no idea when she’d stopped being the cool friend and had become the mom friend, but she was nervous enough at this point that it didn’t matter.

And it was all Niall’s fault.

Niall was the reason for her descent into madness, and she was never going to let him live it down. Because, honestly, fuck Niall Horan.

Well-- okay, not actually. Because Louis didn’t ever want to have sex with anyone.

Obviously.

She was losing her shit again.

Louis collapsed on her couch and groaned into the nearest pillow. This whole thing was going to be a disaster. Harry disliked her. Louis might not know why, but she knew that Harry didn’t want to spend time around her. And now they were going to pretend to date because Niall was a fucking idiot and had already put the whole thing in motion before he’d even come to ask Louis if she was okay with it.

It was just her luck, really.

At the sound of a knock on the door, Louis jolted upright, giving herself a quick glance. Her makeup and hair were done expertly-- Harry had better be fucking impressed, God-- and her outfit was chic and stylish, dark jean shorts with a long sleeve white crop top accompanied by knee high black socks and black boots with gold studs on them. She looked good. She was well aware of that. She just hoped that Harry thought she looked good.

Not that that would change anything.

Louis let out a low sigh, lips pursed. She fiddled with her hair and tugged at the sleeves of her shirt.

“Louis! Let us in, you idiot!”

Louis made her way to the door while contemplating the pros and cons of killing Niall Horan.

So far, the list held a lot more pros than it did cons.

Louis yanked the door open and leant against the doorframe, tilting her head to the side so her hair spilled over her shoulder. “You’re going to get me in trouble with the neighbors, Horan.”

Niall shrugged, beaming down at her.

Yeah, Louis was definitely going to kill him. She just had to find a good way to get rid of his body before she went in search of a weapon.

“Um, hi,” a voice said softly, and Louis turned to look at Harry, her heart caught in her throat. She was ever beautiful, curls cascading down her shoulders. A flower crown rested delicately in the curls, lavender, blue, and white flowers standing out against the soft brown. Several long chains hung down from her neck, glistening in the soft light of the hallway, standing out against the pale white material of her dress. She smelled like flowers and citrus and she looked like home.

Louis was openly staring and definitely embarrassing the fuck out of herself.

“Hey,” she muttered quietly. “Um. Come in, you guys.”

Niall grinned widely and pushed past her, bounding into the apartment. Harry didn’t move for a while, just looked at her before she smiled hesitantly and brushed past her to follow Niall.

“So, ah.” Shit, this was so awkward. “What’s the plan then, Niall?”

“Right. Okay. I already told Liam and Zayn that you guys were hanging out a lot and were really weird around each other, right? Like so weird that I thought you were maybe dating or something.” Niall waited until each of them had nodded and beamed at them. Louis kind of just wanted to punch him, but she resisted the urge. “So you guys just need to act like a couple until they get together, right? Hold hands. Laugh together. Be sappy and disgusting. The likes. Um, probably go to each other’s performances, right?”

Louis blinked slowly. “Um, sorry?”

“Oh,” Harry laughed quietly, shooting a glare at Niall. Her shoulders were stiff, and she seemed like she wanted to be anywhere other than in Louis’s flat. Louis tried not to let that knowledge hurt her. Which it obviously shouldn’t. She was totally super tough. Obviously. “Ni and I perform at the open mic nights that happen at that pub on mercer and waverly lot. I sing and stuff. You know.”

She had absolutely not known, and the knowledge that Harry sang on top of everything else kind of Louis blushed a little. “Right. Okay. That sounds like fun.”

“And Harry should probably go to your recitals, Lou. If you have any soon and stuff.”

Louis sighed. “There’s one in two and a half weeks, Niall. You already have tickets, remember?”

“You dance?” Harry asked quietly after a moment, surprise coloring her voice.

Niall rolled his eyes, flicking Harry’s noise, which earned a squawk of protest from the girl. “She’s a dance major, you idiot. Didn’t you choreograph a dance for this recital too, Lou?”

Shrugging, Louis finally offered, “Uh. Yeah, I did. I have a solo too, of sorts.” She didn’t dare to look at Harry-- not wanting to see her face at the moment, not when Harry seemed to still dislike her so much for reasons Louis didn’t even understand-- and instead turned to Niall. “Are you guys staying here until Zayn gets back from class, then? I think Liam will be headed over with her. He said he wanted to talk to me about something for graduation, but I think he just wanted an excuse to walk over here with Zayn.”

“Of course he did,” Niall laughed. He seemed to pause to consider something and then offered, “maybe we should turn on a movie and get some snacks and you guys can cuddle or something. That seems pretty coupley, right?”

Yeah, fuck even finding a place to dispose of Niall’s body. Louis was going to go into the kitchen and get the sharpest knife she could find.

“Um,” Harry’s voice startled Louis and she turned to look at her. She looked adorable, actually, her brow furrowed and her nose all scrunched up. She seemed to consider something for a long moment before she let out a deep breath. Her shoulders relaxed, her limbs becoming gangly and awkward rather than horribly stiff. “I mean... We can do that if that’s okay with you.”

Louis blinked slowly. She was blushing. She could feel it. Damn.

“Sure, sure,” she said breezily. “Um, I can see what snacks we have if you guys want to pick a movie? Er. You should probably take your shoes off too and stuff. Just leave them by the door.”

Louis swept off to the kitchen before either Niall or Harry could speak up. She needed time to breathe. Being near Harry definitely wasn’t helping anything. The idea of cuddling with her was definitely making everything worse anyways. Fucking Niall and his dumb ideas.

She banged around in the cabinets for a couple of minutes before grabbing a bag of trail mix and throwing some of it into a bowl.

“Do you have popcorn?” Niall called from the other room.

Louis snorted quietly and wandered back to the couch. “It’s in the cabinet. You can heat it up if you want some, Nialler. I’m sure you know how to work a microwave.”

A quiet laugh sounded from the couch where Harry was curled up as Niall grumbled but stood to make the popcorn anyways. Louis settled down on the couch near Harry, shooting an awkward glance at her.

Fuck, this was going to be so awful.

“Um. Niall’s kind of pushy, isn’t he?” Louis whispered after a moment.

Harry glanced up at her, surprised, but her blank stare suddenly changed into a quiet snicker. “He’s always been that way. Don’t be surprised.”

Louis felt her lips quirk upwards and questioned, “How long have you two been best friends?”

“We’re both music majors, so we have a lot of classes together. We met during our first class of freshmen year. Niall fell asleep on me in the middle of the lecture.”

“Of course.” Louis giggled, shaking her head slightly, her hair fell in her face. Harry glanced over at her and smiled. Louis felt a little faint. Harry’s smile kind of did that to her. She coughed awkwardly. “Um. Did you guys end up picking a movie?”

Harry blinked slowly and then shrugged. Her cheeks turned a bit pinker, her nose scrunched up, and Louis wanted to poke it. She was a mess. Honestly.

“Nah, not at all. Niall was being really indecisive.” Harry laughed softly and waved her hand vaguely. “Just pick something, yeah?”

Louis swooped down to grab the case and put the well-loved disc into the DVD player. “I hope you like Grease,” she said on a laugh. Harry shot her a grin, and Louis settled down next to her on the couch, biting her bottom lip. “Um. So apparently we should cuddle?”

“Niall is a dumbass,” Harry offered briefly. “Um. But it might make us look more like a couple. And he kind of already-- well.”

“I know.” Louis sighed. “I can’t believe he told them that without talking to either of us first.”

Harry’s laugh was quiet. “C’mere,” she offered finally. “Um. I’m kind of more of a little spoon person, though.”

“Here, um.” Louis blinked a bit. “I can, uh, sit down and you can lay your head on my lap, if you want? Or I can just lay down on the couch and you can, erm. Like lay on top of me? Or something.”

“Just lay down,” Harry offered quietly, and Louis did just that, maneuvering quickly so she was sprawled out on the faux-leather, and pulled Harry into her arms. She tried not to think about how they kind of fit like this. Which was way more difficult than it should be, really.

Niall eventually rejoined them with a bowl of popcorn in hand, chattering loudly about how they looked exactly like an actual couple and how Liam and Zayn would definitely believe this. Harry stiffened a bit in her arms, and Louis was tempted to yell at Niall, but the door opened before she could.

“Lou! Hello?” Zayn called out casually. Niall stopped talking quickly, and Louis buried her face in Harry’s hair. She didn’t want to deal with this. Fucking Niall.

“She’s here, right?” Liam’s voice was nervous.

Louis sighed. “I’m here, Payno! What do you want?”

“Stop yelling,” Harry whined softly. Louis was tempted to roll her eyes-- she wasn’t being that loud, honestly-- before she realized that Harry’s words were kind of a genius lead-in.

“Sorry, babes. Forgot you were almost asleep.”

Liam’s head popped into the room, a frown tugging at his lips. “Who-- Oh. Niall, uh. Haz. Hey. I didn’t know you guys were going to be here?”

“Sorry, Liam!” Niall laughed, tilting his head back to look at him. “I dragged Haz down here for answers, and then they got all sappy.”

Liam turned to look at them, his mouth dropping open a bit. Zayn came into the room and stumbled a bit, her eyes wide. She practically fell onto Liam’s back.

“Hey,” Louis protested quietly. “You told us our sappiness was cute, so don’t start complaining now, Niall.”

Fuck, why was she doing this?

Niall grinned widely at her, throwing a discreet thumbs up, and Louis flinched. Fucking Niall Horan. Honestly.

Harry mumbled into her chest, and Louis glanced down, blinking slowly, her eyelashes swooping against the tops of her cheeks. Well. This might be the shittiest idea in the history of shitty ideas, but Harry felt kind of right curled up on top of her, so Louis wasn’t going to argue. Not right now, anyways.

“Um.” Liam and Zayn were both openly staring at them. “What’s--”

Niall shot up from the couch and offered, “they’re _dating_ , guys.”

Fucking Niall.

“Yeah,” Louis laughed nervously, shooting a glance at Zayn. “I was going to tell you, you know? I just... Kind of forgot, actually.”

“Rude,” Harry whined quietly, lifting her head up. Louis startled a bit, and she sent her a teasing wink. Louis was going to spend ages pretending that her heart definitely didn’t feel weird after that.

“That’s me,” Louis agreed with a laugh. “The rudest.”

Zayn’s mouth had dropped open. “Really?” She asked quickly. “Have you talked about, um--?”

“Of course,” Louis blurted out. She winced. Hopefully Zayn would just leave the topic alone, or this whole thing was going to get awfully awkward soon enough.

Tearing her gaze away from Zayn, Louis directed her attention to where Danny and Sandy were dancing across the screen. She mindlessly hummed along to the tune of Born to Hand Jive, tapping her fingers nervously. This was going to be a disaster. Everything about this was going to be a horrible disaster, and it was all going to be Niall’s fault.

Liam made a noise of surprise. “Hazza? Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Louis?”

“I’m sorry,” Harry offered quietly, sitting up a bit to peer at Liam. “I mean... It’s pretty recent and I didn’t want to jinx anything, you know?”

“We’ve only been dating for a couple weeks.” Louis smiled gently at Liam. “Don’t worry, Payno. I won’t hurt your little sister.”

Liam rolled his eyes and Harry pushed her off the couch, and that was exactly the responses that Louis should have known she’d get for a statement like that. Still. That didn’t mean she had to like it. It just meant that everyone would ignore her whining, just as they were currently doing.

Bloody hell, she needed better friends.

“How did you guys get together?” Zayn asked curiously. All eyes turned to her and Harry. The look that Harry shot her direction screamed help, so Louis shrugged.

“We got along well at that party, and then I accidentally ran into Harry the next day while I was getting tea after class. We just got to talking a lot, you know? It’s pretty boring, babe.”

“She was really annoying and wouldn’t leave me alone,” Harry drawled, her voice low and raspy. “I found it cute, for some reason.”

Laughter filled the room, and Louis flipped the bird at every one of her friends.

They bloody deserved it.

“So have you guys--”

“Everybody shut up,” Louis declared suddenly, sitting up from the floor. “Nobody is allowed to talk over the best song in this movie or you’ll never be let back into this apartment.”

Liam shut his mouth quickly, a frown forming at his lips. Niall and Harry looked just as perplexed with the statement, but Zayn was giggling, and she looked at Louis, winking quickly.

“Stranded at the drive-in, branded a fooooool,” Zayn crooned out, kicking her shoes off and bouncing up onto her feet. Louis pounced, giggling wildly as she grabbed Zayn’s hands and spun her around in a circle, Zayn stumbling over a few steps and their hair flying everywhere.

Their duet was inspired, as it always was. Zayn’s dancing might have been a bit lackluster compared to Louis’s, but they were both used to that, so they powered through, giggling the entire time.

As the song finished, Louis turned over her shoulder to pout at Harry and dramatically declared, “oh, _Harry_ ,” in what she deemed a rather spot on John Travolta voice.

Harry giggled quietly. “Come here, you fool.”

It wasn’t really a conscious decision; it was something more of a sense of gravity that pulled Louis towards Harry. She didn’t even think, just went, stumbling into Harry’s open arms. She pressed her laughter into Harry’s shoulder, inhaling the smell of citrus and sandalwood. It was pleasant, so comfortable and secure, and Louis didn’t want to move at all. Harry pressed a soft kiss to her hair, and Louis was certain that she had found home.

That was, until she remembered that none of this was real.

Fuck.

“You guys are so cute,” Niall declared proudly.

Louis flipped him off. It was actually extremely satisfying.

Harry snorted with laughter, and Louis kind of wanted to cry. Why was this her life? Why did these things always happen to her?

(She was just going to keep blaming Niall.)

. . .

“Hey. I’m really sorry for, uh. Everything?” Louis leaned against the counter, cradling her cup of tea in her hands, and stared at Harry with wide eyes. She looked so beautiful, all curls and doe-green eyes and milky pale complexion. “Like honestly. The whole thing has been kind of wild and I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable at all.”

Harry laughed quietly. She pursed her lips and shrugged. “It’s okay, Louis. Honestly. Niall can be a bit... eccentric. I know you wouldn’t have agreed to it if he didn’t set us up.”

Harry might have too much faith in her, but Louis wasn't about to inform her of that anytime soon.

“I’m still sorry.” Louis sighed. “I mean this whole thing is so dumb. We’re only kind of friends and now we’re stuck pretending to be in a relationship with each other because Niall--”

“I know.” Harry’s laugh was a delicate string of giggles, a light and buoyant sound that echoed around the walls of the small coffee shop. “He's a pain in the ass when he really wants to be, isn't he?”

“That might be an understatement.”

Louis took a sip of her tea as Harry giggled again. It was a brilliant excuse to let her hair cover her face so Harry couldn’t see her blushing. Honestly, Louis was acting like a child with a crush. It was quite embarrassing.

“Look,” Harry finally offered. “I know that this is probably a bit awkward and everything, but I guess we should just go with it until Zayn and Liam do end up getting together, right?”

Sighing, Louis sagged against the counter. “Yeah, I guess. Um. Should we... Uh?”

“Should we what?”

Harry was staring at her, green eyes wide and innocently confused, curls falling over her shoulders. She was so beautiful, and Louis felt the weirdest feeling in her stomach. It wasn’t horrible, but it was kind of unpleasant, and she quickly decided that it was better just not to think about the entire thing.

She coughed. “Should we like, exchange phone numbers and everything? Since we’re supposed to be dating.”

“Oh!” Harry let out a soft laugh and then shrugged. “Sure. As long as you’re okay with me putting your contact name down as girlfriend with a million heart emojis, just to freak Liam out.”

Louis’s lips twitched involuntarily. “I’m going to end up putting you in my phone as ‘the love and light of my life’ if you’re not careful, darling. It’ll have a ridiculous amount of emojis after it as well. Obviously. That’s how I judge a good relationship. How many emojis are in the contact name.”

“That’s a brilliant way to judge relationships,” Harry agreed sarcastically, laughing to herself.

“Well, obviously.” Louis scoffed. “People have to earn emojis from me.”

Harry’s laughter was entirely worth sounding like a fool.

“Here.” Harry held her hand out, and Louis unlocked her phone, placing it in her palm. She watched as Harry tapped away at the device for a few seconds before handing it back to her, a bright smile on her lips, her eyes lit up with amusement.

Holy hell, she was beautiful.

Louis glanced down at the contact name and snorted. “I didn’t think you’d actually take that seriously, to be honest.”

“I refuse to be in a relationship with you if you don’t refer to me as the love and light of your life with two heart eyes emojis, a rainbow of heart emojis, and a banana emoji. Keep up please, Louis.”

“You’re so dumb.”

Harry cracked a grin, her head tilting backwards. She was a vision, staring up at the ceiling so her curls spilled over her shoulders, every line of her face turned up in contentment. She looked so lovely, and Louis felt that itching in her stomach, that unwelcome yet pleasant nudge that said don’t look away.

So, of course, that was when the world would make her look away.

“Louis!”

Louis turned her head quickly, her ponytail swishing against her ear. Her face twisted up when she laid eyes on the person who was trying to talk to her. “Oh. Um, hi. Can I help you, Brett?”

“Hey there, babe.” An arm was slung around her shoulder, and Louis stiffened, a grimace forming on her lips. “What are you up to today? Got any time for that date today?”

“Well.” Louis pursed her lips and calmly extracted herself from the arm that was keeping her captive. “I’m actually sitting here talking to my girlfriend right now, so you should probably just back the fuck off and never come back. Got it?”

Brett blinked slowly at her. Louis wanted to sigh. God, how did she even know people that were this dumb? Honestly.

“Girlfriend?” Brett repeated.

Louis took a step closer to the counter, cradling her tea to her chest. “Mm,” she agreed blandly. “Have you met Harry before? Harry, this is Brett. He’s kind of dick. I don’t know why he still talks to me.”

“Hi.” Harry was trying valiantly not to laugh, but her shoulders shook with the effort of it. “It’s, ah, nice to meet you?”

If Loui scoffed and Harry giggled into the palm of her hand, then it really made no difference, because Brett was still as oblivious as always.

Brett was wearing a look of pure concentration, his brow furrowed and his bottom lip stuck between his teeth. He tilted his head to the side. “You have a girlfriend?”

“Yes.” Louis crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head back to peer at Brett. She hated being short, honestly, but it didn’t matter right now. She could still be intimidating, even if she was only five foot three. It wasn’t hard. Especially not around idiots like Brett. “I do.”

“That’s sexy,” Brett said, his lips curling up in a grin that was three quarters disgusting and another quarter just sleezy.

Louis blinked slowly, processing the words, before she curled her hand into a fist and punched the smug bastard right in the gut. “Fuck off.”

The noise that escaped Brett was entirely too satisfying, and Louis probably would have been more pleased by it if she wasn’t distracted by the look on Harry’s face. She looked amused and oddly uneasy, and Louis couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. It was a useless kind of wish, the involuntary kind that couldn’t be avoided, no matter how useless they were.

“I should go,” Louis muttered, turning to Harry. “My class starts soon. But, uh. I’ll see you for our date tonight and everything?”

Harry’s lips quirked into an amused grin. “Sure thing,” she agreed quietly. “I’ll see you then, sweet cheeks.”

“Fuck off, baby cakes.”

Harry’s laughter followed her out of the coffee shop, and for the first time in two weeks, Louis decided that she didn’t hate Niall Horan.

(Just for now.)

. . .

“I swear to god.” Louis was nothing if not dramatic, so she dropped her head on the table, wincing a bit as she felt something sticky against her forehead. Whatever. She was proving a point. “You know you can just go fucking talk to him, right?”

“No. I absolutely cannot. That’s not how this works, Lou.”

Louis scrunched her nose up, arching an eyebrow. Zayn was making the most bizarre face, bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously. It was honestly ridiculous. Liam was all of five feet away from them, chatting to some pretty girl as they waited for Harry and Niall to take the stage. Zayn was glaring, but refused to move from her spot.

“It’s absolutely how it works,” Louis dismissed briefly. “It worked for Harry and I, right?”

Normally, she’d feel worse about lying to Zayn, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And Zayn’s love life was kind of desperate and pathetic, so Louis’s wasn’t about to feel bad. Not until Zayn got her head out of her ass and went and talked to Liam.

Zayn clicked her tongue. “Sure. It worked for now. Have you told her that you’re ace yet, though?”

“What?” Louis shot a quick look around them, her eyes slipping into a glare. “Zayn.”

“Sorry.” Zayn huffed, throwing her hand in the air. “Just... You guys are really cute together, but you’re still not completely honest with her. You know? And it’s so scary. What am I supposed to do? Just go up to Liam and tell him that I’ve wanted to date him for two years now?”

“I mean... Ideally, yes.” Louis’s lips quirked up in a smile. She wiped at her forehead, wincing as her fingers came across something sticky. She’d have to pop by the bathroom and fix that, then. “Zayn just-- just tell him that you like him as more than friends. It’s not that bad, I promise.”

She was only promising that because she knew that Liam would probably cry tears of joy if Zayn walked up to him and said those exact words.

“I can’t,” Zayn whined. “Louis I can’t. You know I can’t. If he wants me then he has to say something to me first. I’m too nervous. I can’t do that.”

Louis sighed. “You’re going to watch the opportunity just disappear at this rate, love.”

“Just go watch your girlfriend play, yeah?” Zayn turned away from her. “I’m going to sit here and mope and eat more nachos.”

Quirking an eyebrow upwards, Louis shook her head. There was nothing left to say, though. They both knew that. Louis grabbed a napkin off of the table, wiped off her forehead, and made her way towards the front of the crowd. On her way there she passed Liam, clapping him on the shoulder.

He turned to look at her with wide eyes, a small smile on his lips.

“Zayn’s all alone if you want to go keep her company, Payno.”

Liam’s response was flustered hand motions, rambling words, and a lot of excuses.

Of course.

Louis flicked him in the forehead and pushed her way through the rest of the crowd, to where Harry and Niall were standing. “You guys are on next, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah.” Harry turned to look at her, her beautiful eyes a little wide. “Sorry. I’m all jittery. Like I know I shouldn’t be nervous but I can’t help it.”

Louis reached out and pushed a curl behind Harry’s ear without even thinking about. Her skin was soft to the touch, her hair smooth and silky, and Louis kind of just wanted to curl around Harry and never let go of her. Those were things that Louis probably needed to stop thinking. Honestly.

She was a mess.

“You’ll do great, love. I know you will. Don’t even worry about it.” Louis pulled Harry into a hug, her nose pressed against Harry’s shoulder. She inhaled softly, taking in citrus and sandalwood, feeling the scent calm her. Harry’s skin was clammy and damp with sweat, but it didn’t matter. Not much matter, actually. “You’re going to kick ass up there. I promise.”

Harry’s arms moved around her waist, clutching at the dip of her hips. They kind of fit, like this, pressed together tightly, limbs curling around skin. “Thank you,” Harry breathed into her hair. Louis let her head tilt back so she could meet Harry’s eyes.

A few soft giggles escaped her, but if Harry ever said anything about that she’d definitely deny it. “Anytime, light and love of my life,” Louis teased delicately, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Heart eyes, rainbow hearts, banana. The likes,” she tacked onto the end, giggles wove through the words, making them waver.

“You’re such a dork.” Harry was laughing too, a kind of low laugh that made Louis want to smile for all she was worth.

“Hey,” Louis offered, poking Harry’s nose. She tried her hardest to not stare at the taller girl with heart eyes, but it was kind of the impossible task. “Don’t complain. You know you like my dorkiness.”

“Don’t tell Niall or anything but, uh, I’m kind of glad he got us stuck in this mess, you know. You’re a great friend, Louis.” Harry’s face was so expressive and earnest, her wide green eyes alight as she stared at Louis, her smile so wide.

Louis nodded hesitantly, forcing a smile. She wanted to say that friends wasn’t exactly a word she would use to define the two of them, but the words died in her throat. She wasn’t brave enough for statements like that. No. Louis Tomlinson was a coward when it all came down to it. It was kind of pathetic.

“I’m the best friend ever. Duh.”

Harry laughed quietly, running her thumb in a circle over Louis’s hip. Her breath hitched, stuttering out of her in surprise at the movement. It wasn’t a movement with any purpose, just a comforting pressure, and Louis felt content, in that moment.

Louis made a noise of disapproval when Harry pulled away. Harry replied with a soft laugh and some vague statement about how she had to get on stage. “Go kick ass,” Louis declared, winking at Harry. “I’m going to see if I can actually get Liam and Zayn in the same vicinity of each other without either of them embarrassing themselves or complaining about how they’ll be alone and miserable for forever.”

Harry squawked out the most adorable laugh ever, her cheeks flushing as she turned to make her way towards the small stage.

Louis found it far too endearing.

On her way back to the table she was sharing with Zayn, Louis snagged Liam by the arm, tugging him with her. When he realized her mission, he protested quietly under his breath, but all of that stopped as soon as Zayn noticed them approaching. She actually looked about ready to kill Louis, but it was entirely worth it.

“You’ve been to a lot of these shows before, haven’t you, Payno?”

Liam tore his gaze away from Zayn to stare at her, blinking in confusion. Finally, he blushed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Harry and Niall are here a lot. I think I’ve come to every show they’d done here.”

“That’s so sweet of you,” Zayn cooed softly.

Louis contemplated if yelling at them to kiss and running away would be an idiotic move. Her brainstorming was derailed when a voice piped up, “Hi guys! I’m Harry, and this is Niall. Thank you so much for coming out tonight.”

Turning, Louis cracked a smile at the sight of Harry standing up on stage, cradling a guitar in her arms, while Niall was beside her, holding his own guitar and adjusting the second mic-stand so he could sing into it. She could distantly hear Liam and Zayn both making fun of her for being “too attached” and “grossly sappy” but she could care less right now.

She’d just make them pay for it later.

Harry was talking again, rambling about how often she and Niall played at the pub and how they wrote a lot of the songs they played. Louis found the whole display kind of disgustingly adorable.

“Stop making heart eyes at your girlfriend,” Zayn declared suddenly. Louis turned to look at her, eyebrow arched, and blinked slowly when she just giggled and Liam laughed quietly along with her.

Ugh.

“You guys are so dumb,” Louis grumbled. Her hands moved across the table-- which was miraculously clean-- fingers following the grain of the wood, her head tilted slightly to the side as a tune picked up, Harry’s raspy and lower voice echoing through the restaurant. “Holy crap. Liam! You never told me how good of a singer Harry was.”

Liam crossed his arms over his abdomen, rolling his eyes at her. “Don’t be upset, Lou. I just don’t walk around singing Harry’s praises like you do.”

Zayn laughed into her palm, her eyes alight. Louis would likely have been less annoyed by the whole thing if Zayn didn’t already spend too much of her time looking at Liam like he was the best thing in the universe.

They needed to get their shit together.

“Oh, whatever,” Louis grumbled. “At least I can talk about my feelings out loud.”

Liam’s face dropped from amused to blank to panicked, and he made a frantic swiping motion with his hands. So maybe she’d overstepped a bit there-- it wasn’t really her place to expose Liam’s feelings for Zayn, but Liam was kind of being rude, and Louis was in a vindictive kind of mood-- but she couldn’t really find it in herself to care too much.

As she stood up from her chair, Louis winked at him and blew a kiss in his direction. “Better talk it out with my girl, Payno, or we’ll have to have a very serious conversation.”

Louis heard Zayn’s voice quietly asking, “what’s she talking about?” as she made her way towards the front of the stage.

She had a fake girlfriend to pay attention to.

. . .

“You know, I was really angry about this whole thing at first, but I’m kind of enjoying it, right now,” Louis admitted, turning her head to look at Harry.

Harry stared back at her with wide green eyes, her lips quirked up in a smile. The sunlight filtered through trees around them, giving Harry a sort of ethereal glow about her.

Over the past four months, in which the five of them had become rather close, and Louis and Harry had been “dating” (she was still blaming Niall) for the past two, they normally ate lunch with Liam, Zayn and Niall. Liam and Zayn had been acting odd around each other ever since the other night at the pub, though, so Louis had declared that she was taking Harry on a date. The date had really just consisted of a kind of lame picnic at the best spot on the Quad, with lots of fresh fruit and delicious sandwiches and fresh air, but Harry seemed to be enjoying it.

“It could be far worse,” Harry agreed quietly. “Although, uh. I’m kind of surprised that you’re enjoying this as much as you are.”

Louis blinked slowly, a frown forming on her lips. “Um... Are you?”

Harry’s face was sheepish, and she shrugged a bit, brushing her curls over her shoulder. “I mean, kind of?” A soft laugh escaped her. “You just kind of seem the flirty type, I guess. But I’m glad you’re enjoying not doing that, I guess?”

“Oh.” Louis blinked slowly. That was everything she hadn’t expected Harry to say. “I think, erm. I think I kind of give off a flirty vibe sometimes. I’m really not much of a flirt, though. I promise. Mostly I just spend my time dancing and making fun of Zayn.”

Harry hummed quietly. “I haven’t seen you dance yet.”

“Well, the showcase is in a week, so you’ll see me dance soon,” Louis offered, a soft laugh falling from her lips. She trailed her hand down her side, wrapping it around her abdomen.

“You have a solo, right? Or something? I don’t really know how that works with dance.”

Louis laughed quietly. “Um. I’m the lead dancer in a couple of the dances, but I actually have a solo piece that’ll be just me. Oh. And a duet thing, but that’s kind of whatever.”

“None of that is whatever,” Harry declared, her eyes wide. “That’s so awesome, Lou.”

“Thank you.” Louis was absolutely not blushing. Not at all. She was cool and didn’t get flustered when girls who smiled like the sun and laughed like home gave her compliments. Absolutely not.

“What styles of dance are you doing?” Harry was smiling at her, her head tilted to the side.

Louis shrugged, nose wrinkling. “Some ballet, some modern stuff. A couple tap numbers. Lyrical jazz. It's kind of all across the board, you know.”

“That's amazing, Lou.”

Harry was staring at her, awe written across the lines of her face. Louis wanted to reach out, erase the expression, and replace it with another. She didn't deserve to be looked at like that. Certainly not by the most beautiful creature in the entire world.

“It’s alright.” Louis laughed quietly and shrugged. She turned her head away from Harry to stare across the Quad, taking in the sight of students bustling about, her lips pursed slightly in concentration. It was easier to talk to Harry when she wasn’t looking at Harry. That was embarrassing, yes, but it was also just a fact. A fact that she had recently come to accept, at that.

“Liam and Zayn still think we’re dating, right?” Harry asked suddenly.

Louis turned to look at her, arching an eyebrow. Harry stared back at her, a small frown on her lips. “Um. I think so?” She hummed quietly, shrugging. “I don’t know. Zayn said something to me the other day about how she thought it was weird that we like never held hands or kissed or anything but, um. I think that’s about it.”

“What did, uh. What did you say back?”

“Oh.” Louis blushed and looked at the sky. The blue was calming, in a way. “I made up some bullshit about how we didn’t want to seem too gross and sappy around them.”

Harry sighed quietly. “They’ll probably keep bringing that up, won’t they?”

It was true. They both knew it, of course. Zayn and Liam were rather perceptive about most things-- excepting their feelings for each other, apparently, which was just dumb-- and either of them were bound to notice that Louis and Harry weren’t acting very coupley.

In all honesty, though, Louis wasn’t really sure how she felt about kissing. She didn’t mind the idea of holding Harry’s hand, quite enjoyed the thought of being closer to her, but the idea of kissing made something in her stomach twist uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure if it was nerves because she’d never kissed anyone before, or it was just because she didn’t want to kiss anyone. Of course, she supposed she couldn’t really knock it until she’d actually tried it, but the whole experience just... looked odd.

What was the point of trying to eat someone’s face off, anyways? How was a nonverbal version of _“here, have some of my spit”_ in any way appealing?

Louis didn’t get it. At all.

“Probably.” Louis coughed lightly. “Um. Do you think we should maybe kiss in front of them or something?”

“Wh-What?” Harry stuttered out quietly. Her cheeks stained red.

Louis shrugged, trying to look like she wasn’t freaking out. “I don’t know,” she finally offered, voice shaking a bit. “I just, um. I figured it might make everything more convincing? We can practice right now, if you want. Just to make sure it looks natural or something. I don’t know.”

Fuck, she was making this weird already, wasn’t she?

Harry was staring at her, her expression hesitant. “Um. I mean, I guess? Maybe just... No making out or anything, okay? Just some innocent kissing. You know.”

Louis blinked slowly. Yeah. Okay, that sounded good. She really didn’t know what she would have done if Harry had asked her to jump right into making out in the middle of the Quad. Louis didn’t even really think that she wanted to make out in the middle of the Quad. With anyone. Ever.

“Um,” Louis laughed nervously, her eyes widening a little. “Okay, sure. Let’s just, um.”

She scooted on her butt across the wet grass, knowing that the movement would probably leave stains. Oh well. When she finally got close enough to Harry, Louis reached a hand out, gently pressing it to Harry’s shoulder.

“Hi,” Harry breathed out quietly. She twitched nervously, biting down on her bottom lip.

“Are you okay?” Louis asked quietly, quirking an eyebrow up. “You’re okay with this, right?”

Harry’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “It’s okay. Just, um. Go for it, I guess.”

Fucking hell.

Nodding quickly, Louis pulled herself up onto her knees, her thumbs pressing lightly into the warm skin of Harry’s shoulders. There was a hesitant moment in which she just breathed out and in through her nose, not wanting to disturb even a single curl that was hanging delicately around Harry’s face. She wasn’t sure she could bring herself to do this, even though there was a part of her that was far too curious.

“Okay. Right.” Louis flushed as she noticed Harry arching an eyebrow at her, looking exasperated. “Sorry.”

“Just get on with it,” Harry breathed out. Her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. A few curls slipped down from her forehead and Louis leaned closer, her breaths stuttering in the cavity of her chest.

She hesitated for a split second more before she leaned in and pressed her lips softly against Harry’s. Harry’s lips were chapped and dry, and the kiss was at an awkward angle and just-- it was weird. The whole thing was weird. Louis honestly didn’t understand how anyone could ever feel some intense kind of attraction to someone through a kiss but, on some level, she saw the point of them.

There were no fireworks, of course. It wasn’t an explosion of colors and the only feeling in her stomach was knots, not butterflies. And yet, the kiss had a sort of safety to it, a homely sort of feeling. It reminded Louis of nights sitting in front of a crackling fireplace, or cuddling while watching Grease, of waking up next to someone because she loved them and had spent all night cuddling them, knowing that they didn’t need anything else from her.

It was nice a thought.

It was a nice kiss.

Weird, but nice.

Louis pulled back a bit, hoping the movement would be kind of suave, but instead she managed to turn her head at the wrong angle and smack her nose against Harry’s. Harry whined, her hands flying up to cover nose. Louis made an odd noise in the back of her throat, her cheeks flaring red.

“Fuck,” she breathed out. “I’m so sorry. Oh god.”

Harry rubbed her nose, a soft laugh leaving her. “It’s okay,” she offered after a second. “My nose has been through worse, I’m sure. Probably.”

Louis slumped out against the grass dramatically, covering her eyes with her arm. “Fuck. I’m sorry. Shit. That’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to me in months. Years, maybe.”

A soft laugh was huffed out against her ear, and Louis turned her head slowly-- she didn’t want to hit Harry again-- to look at the beautiful angel beside her. “It’s okay,” Harry assured her. “It was a really nice kiss, actually. Um. Just. Maybe we can try not to smack into each other next time? I’m pretty sure that’ll make it obvious that we’ve never really kissed before.”

Louis was fairly certain that the shade of red that covered her face could be likened to a ripened tomato by now.

“Should we, um, try again? Or are we just going to call that a good lesson and never try that ever again?”

Harry cackled out a laugh, her head thrown back. Curls tumbled over her shoulders as she stared up at the sky, the sun illuminating her face.

“We can try again if you’d like. It’s okay.”

“Right. Right, yeah.” Louis let out a nervous hum. “Sure. I’ll try not to break your nose this time.”

Harry’s answering giggles were soft. “How considerate of you.”

Louis leaned forwards again. She didn’t hesitate this time, just pressed her lips softly to Harry’s, applying a gentle pressure. The kiss felt more like comfort, more like a hello, I’m here for you, than anything else ever had. It was quite pleasant. And this time, when she pulled away, their faces didn’t smack into each other, which was definitely a win.

“That was much better.” Harry grinned at her, her eyes twinkling and her lips twitching as she tried not to laugh. “You’re a good kisser, Louis. Especially when you’re not causing me harm.”

Louis scoffed, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I know I am, Styles. I’m the best damn kisser in the whole world.”

(And, okay. If Louis gave herself a mental high five, then no one else would ever have to know.)

. . .

Louis spent most of her time trying to pretend that her dance recitals weren’t really a big deal. She liked to be casual about things. It was just who she was. Louis had come out to Zayn as asexual via text, actually, so it probably shouldn’t be surprising that she tried to keep everything about her recitals lowkey. It wasn’t that was being humble, necessarily.

Sometimes it was just that she didn’t think what she did was as impressive as other people seemed to believe it was. Sometimes it was just that she didn’t want the attention. Sometimes it was just that it was habit, and she had plenty of habits that were hard to break.

Up until this performance, Zayn had really been the only one attending them. Louis had been content with that, honestly. She was used to it, and it was natural and pleasant.

So when she wandered out into the thinning crowd, her dance bag thrown over her shoulder, she really wasn’t expecting to be practically tackled to the floor by Niall.

“Jesus,” Louis gasped out, a laugh bursting out of her. “You okay there, Nialler?”

Niall sniffled quietly into her shoulder. “You move like a swan,” he said cheerfully, pulling back from their awkward position and pinching Louis’s cheeks. “The most graceful baby swan of the entire wedge.”

“Um.” Liam coughed, and Louis looked up to see him standing slightly behind Zayn with a perplexed look on his face. “Are groups of swans called wedges? I thought that was the name for like doorstops or something.”

Niall shot to his feet, an offended look on his face. “Are you doubting my swan knowledge, Liam? What the fuck?”

Liam and Niall continued to bicker amongst themselves, and Louis giggled into her hand, pulling herself to her feet. She managed to only stumble a bit as she stood upright. A hand shot out to steady her, and Louis turned to look at Zayn, a small smile on her lips.

“You did such a good job, babe.” Zayn wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Your solo was so amazing.”

Louis gripped Zayn tightly, inhaling the scent of smoke and soft floral perfume, her nose pressed into her best friend’s shoulder. “Thanks.” A soft laugh left her. “I’m glad all you guys came.”

“Me too, babe.” Zayn’s voice was soft, and even though Louis wasn’t looking at her, she could hear her smile. “I think someone else probably wants to talk to you, though. You probably shouldn’t leave her hanging, you know?”

A delicate cough came from over her shoulder, and Louis whirled around to stare at Harry. Who was standing directly behind her. Holding a rather large bouquet of sunflowers, a hesitant smile written across her face.

And-- okay. Louis knew that their relationship was fake. She doubted she’d ever really be able to forget Niall’s dumbass idea and inability to plan that had landed them in the bizarre state the two of them were in. And, yet, Louis found her face heating up, a beaming smile pulling across her lips as she moved to throw her arms around Harry.

“Hey,” Harry rasped in her ear.

“Hi,” Louis breathed back.

“You were so good, sweet cheeks.”

Louis laughed softly. “Thanks, baby cakes.”

She pulled back to stare up at Harry. They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Louis was well aware that everyone else’s eyes were on them, so she raised an eyebrow at Harry, who let out a quiet laugh and nodded slightly.

Their lips met in a (very well practiced) delicate and gentle kiss.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds before they pulled away from each other, Harry smiling softly while Louis’s face slowly became a tomato. Again. Of course.

“Oh!” Harry blurted out, a soft giggle escaping her. “Um. These are for you.”

Louis accepted the offered sunflowers, her arms cradling the massive bouquet of beautiful flowers close to her chest and asked, “How did you know these were my favorite?”

“I may have bribed Zayn,” Harry admitted. “It was worth it, though.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Lou.”

Louis reached out and tangled their fingers together. They hadn’t necessarily talked about holding hands, but Harry was a rather tactile person, so Louis figured that she probably wouldn’t mind. Besides, their hands seemed to fit together, fingers interlocked, Harry’s hands just slightly larger than Louis’s. It was like a puzzle, the two of them, and they fit so perfectly that Louis felt just the slightest bit mushy.

Which was dumb. But also kind of unavoidable.

Harry made Louis act kind of dumb. It was just a fact at this point.

She spent another for seconds just staring at Harry and smiling like an idiot, unable to look away. Harry seemed to be doing the exact same thing. Louis was about to speak when Niall’s voice suddenly cut through their pleasant haze.

“Can you two stop being gross for a second so we can go celebrate or something?”

The moment ended quickly, Harry blushing and looking away. She looked almost upset with herself, and Louis wanted nothing more than to give Niall nasty looks for the rest of the night.

Fucking Niall.

Why did he have to ruin everything?

. . .

If there was one thing Louis could have never prepared herself for, it would be the sight of Liam and Zayn wrapped around each other on their couch, trying to eat each other’s face.

Even if she’d had years to prepare for the sight, Louis doubted she could have ever been fully ready for the sight of the two of them. Seeing as she’d had no warning at all for the sight that was currently in front of her, however, Louis really didn’t think she could be blamed for the shriek that escaped her. Nor for the fact that she dropped her dance bag in surprise, and it smacked against the floor with a loud thud.

“Holy shit,” she blurted out, mouth dropping open in a wide circle.

(Well, Louis supposed it could never be said that she was tactful, because that would be a complete and utter load of bullshit.)

“Um.” Zayn scrambled up from the couch, pushing her jumper back down so that it covered her stomach-- which, _okay_ , had Liam been feeling Zayn up while they were making out? The idea of that was honestly repulsive on so many levels that Louis didn’t even want to think about it-- and waved awkwardly at her. She was clearly trying to keep up appearances of a wholesome conversation taking place on their couch. Louis, being a merciful roommate, wasn’t about to point out to her that her hair was totally fucked up and her lipstick was smudged. “Hey. Hi, Louis. I, er. I thought your class didn’t end until two forty five?”

Louis quirked an eyebrow at Zayn. “It’s three fifteen,” she responded dryly, the right corner of her lips lifting in a smirk.

“Oh.” Zayn was bright red, and Louis would probably be enjoying this whole situation more if she wasn’t trying to chase the image of Liam trying to get it on with her best friend very far away from her mind. “Erm. Yeah. Sorry about that, Louis. I guess you probably didn’t want to see that.”

“Not particularly.” Louis crossed her arms over her chest, her fingers twitching to grab the soft material of her shirt. “You can stop hiding under the blanket, Payno. It’d be rude of you to just sit there and let Zayn flail.”

Liam’s head popped up from behind the couch, the soft bright blue blanket that Louis would definitely have to wash later was dangling down from around his head.

He coughed awkwardly. “Um. Hey. Hey Lou. What’s up?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I just witnessed my best friend getting felt up while her face was being attacked by your face,” Louis drawled out briefly. “Which is just a combination of a lot of things I never want to experience or see ever again in my entire lifetime.”

Liam’s face was so mortified that Louis’s previous scarring might be worth it. Just maybe. “I’m. Um. S-Sorry.”

Snorting quietly, Louis shook her head. “Calm down, Payno. Breathe, yeah? I like you and you make my girl happy, so don’t go and die from embarrassment or something.”

Liam still looked utterly mortified, and Zayn’s face was still awkward and embarrassed. Louis kind of wished that someone was filming this moment, because it was fucking comedy gold. Honestly. People probably would have paid to laugh at this situation, and Louis would have gladly indulged them, if it were possible.

A concerned frown crossed Louis’s face suddenly. “Wait. You guys are dating now and not just hooking up or something, right?”

“Oh my god,” Liam gasped. He sunk down below the back of the couch until all Louis could see was a lump underneath the blankets again. Louis strongly suspected his face was still bright red. She almost gave herself a pat on the back.

“Yes, we’re fucking dating,” Zayn grumbled, throwing her hands up in the air. “And we were having a very enjoyable moment until you showed up, thank you very much.”

“Awwww! You finally got your heads out of your arses? How did it happen? Tell me everything.”

Zayn threw a pillow at her head.

Whatever. It was totally worth it.

Liam’s head popped back up from underneath his blanket-couch-hideout place. “Um. You and Harry kept encouraging us to talk to each other and stuff, you know?”

 

“I figured that if even you could make a relationship work, then I might as well give it a shot,” Zayn added on teasingly.

Louis, eloquent as always, rolled her eyes and flipped her middle finger up lazily.

“Huh?” Liam asked, brow furrowing. “Why are you bad at relationships, Lou? Is it because you sleep around and everything or what?”

There was an exceptionally long silence, one that stretched on for what felt like a fucking eternity. Zayn stared at Liam with her mouth wide open, and Louis felt a flush rise on her cheeks.

Liam looked kind of alarmed by the sudden change of emotional tension in the room, but Louis couldn’t feel anything other than anger and abject horror, at the moment, so she really couldn’t give a fuck about what Liam was feeling. Why was he under the impression that she slept around? How did anyone think that about her?

“Wh-What?” She stuttered out. “Who the fuck said I sleep around?”

“Oh.” Liam shrugged nervously, his eyes darting around the room. “Um. Just a couple of guys said they’d erm, you know. With you. And stuff. I don’t know. I didn’t pay much attention to it because I thought it was kind of horrible that they were talking about it in the first place.”

Louis kind of wanted to cry.

“Fuck. Tell me their names, Liam.” Zayn looked kind of fierce. And it was in her defense. Louis would appreciate it more if she could focus on much of anything other than the awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I’m going to fucking kill every single one of them.”

Liam looked between the two of them hesitantly. “Um... Did I say something wrong?” He asked quietly.

Fuck. Louis rarely ever talked about this but Liam was looking up at her with his dumbass puppy dog eyes, and Louis couldn’t help but feel bad.

“I’m asexual, Liam.”

Her voice was exhausted, and Liam’s head jerked up quickly, the blanket tumbling off of his shoulders and onto the floor.

“You’re what?” He asked sharply, his voice cracking a bit.

“I’m asexual,” Louis repeated quietly.

Liam was silent for a long few seconds, his eyes wide. “Oh god. Well that explains why... Fuck.” Liam shook his head a bit, frowning. “I’m so sorry, Lou. If I had known that those guys were spreading false rumors about you I would have told them to fuck off.”

Zayn kind of seemed to melt at the idea of her boyfriend being a semi-badass in order to protect a friend, and Louis just rolled her eyes. They were as disgusting as ever, but they were quite adorable together, so she didn’t even try to protest.

“I’m, uh.” Louis shrugged. “Thank you guys and stuff. I think I’m just going to take a nap. Or something.”

If there was any way to escape the sympathetic looks Liam and Zayn were giving her and the awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, Louis figured that a good long nap was probably the easiest solution. It was also the solution that sounded best to her.

Sleep was the best way to escape any and all problems. Always.

“Of course, babe,” Zayn said gently. “Let me know if you need anything, yeah?”

Louis cracked a smile. “You’ll stop doing gross sex things with your boyfriend if I call for you? When did you get to be so sweet, Zayn?”

“Hey.” Liam let out a low whine. “Don’t get me riled up. That’s just rude.”

Louis snorted and scrunched her nose up, which was likely a very attractive combination of features. Not that that was surprising. Everything Louis did was attractive. Obviously.

(The second best medicine for escaping problems was sarcasm, and she had that one down to a T as well.)

“Oh. Um.” Louis paused, turning back to look at Liam and Zayn. “Have you guys told Niall and Harry yet that you’re dating? They were just as invested in your relationship as I was. Actually, Niall was probably more into it than Harry and I. He came storming in here the other day telling me we needed to get you two together because he supported true love in all of its forms. Or something like that.”

Liam’s laughter hooted out of him in loud bursts. His shoulders even shook with the force of his amusement. Zayn looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. She was failing miserably, but Louis was a good best friend, so she wasn’t about to call her out on it.

“We were planning on telling them tomorrow, actually,” Liam piped up.

“That's good.” Louis smiled at them gently. She tried not to think about the fact that her stomach was still in knots. She tried even harder to not think about how this would be the end of her and Harry pretending to be dating. That would make the feeling in her stomach even worse. “Enjoy your night, lovebirds. I’ll put my headphones in and everything, because I’m the world’s best roommate.”

Soft laughter followed her until her bedroom door was shut behind her. Louis let out a low sigh, slumping out on her bed and earning herself a mouthful of the soft sheets that she should probably change soon. She kicked her shoes off and curled around her pillow, eyes fluttering closed.

She needed to sleep and not think about everything that was suddenly going wrong.

. . .

Avoiding problems was easier than facing them, and Louis had been aware of that fact for pretty much her whole life. She ran from everything whenever it was possible. Which would likely lead to a whole lot more problems for her, in the end, but sometimes it was easier just to pretend something wasn’t happening.

Louis had run out of time on this one, however.

As much as she’d like to keep pretending that she and Harry were actually in a relationship, Louis was (sadly) well aware of the fact that they weren’t in one. Which was why she was currently at Harry and Niall’s apartment, waiting to talk to Harry when she got back from work.

She knew that Zayn and Liam had told Niall and Harry of the developments in their relationship earlier this morning. So now she was sitting here waiting for the impending horror of whatever end was to come from her and Harry’s pretend relationship.

They had done their job. They had accomplished whatever Niall had wanted them to.

The only problem was that Louis didn’t want it to end.

Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever, probably.

Sinking onto the couch with a low sigh, Louis curled around the pillow closest to her. It was an uncomfortable material, kind of scratchy, but she didn’t bother pulling away from it. It was easier to stay hidden, after all, easier to pretend that whatever was about to happen was years away instead of a few mere minutes.

She’s so pathetic.

It’s ridiculous, actually.

Louis has never been the type of person to get nervous about things. Sure, she avoids her problems like a fucking pro (she would actually consider herself a pro at ignoring things, most of the time) but that doesn’t mean she gets nervous. It’s a rather unfamiliar feeling for her, actually, but she feels it in the pit of her stomach right now, twisting the entirety of her being up in knots. It won’t go away.

She doesn’t expect it to.

The thing is, Louis knows she should have expected this. The whole thing was going to end the second it had started, but Louis had let herself fall into it anyways, distracted by Harry Styles and everything about her that was so beautiful and glorious. Not that it was difficult to be distracted by Harry. She was all dimples and curls and sunshine, and Louis figured that most people were distracted by her upon meeting her.

Louis had just never thought she’d get this way about another person. She had started to believe that it would be too difficult, that it would be better if she just never had a relationship.

“Fuck,” she breathed out, eyes clenching shut. She earned a mouthful of the scratchy pillow she was clutching at for her troubles.

Yeah. There was no doubt. Whatever was about to happen with Harry was going to suck.

The sound of the door opening had Louis falling off of the couch in her hurry to stand up.

Harry was there, a bag thrown over her shoulder, her hair flying in a million directions. She quirked an eyebrow and smiled a bit. “Um. Hi, Louis.”

“Hey.” She expelled a nervous puff of air. “Hi, Harry.”

“How did you, uh, get in here?”

Louis blinked slowly. “Oh!” Her face flushed. “Sorry. Niall let me in before he left. I told him I wanted to talk to you and he just said to wait until you got back and everything.”

Harry hummed quietly and replied, “Makes sense. He does stuff like that all the time and never tells me when he does it, you know?” Louis watched while she dropped her keys in a bowl near the door, and then turned to look at her. “What did you want to talk about, then?”

“Um. You’ve talked to Liam and Zayn today, right?”

“Oh.” Harry paused, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Yeah, they came by this morning. Talked with Niall and I for a long while, actually.”

There was a long pause, and Louis found herself absolutely dreading whatever was coming next.

Harry coughed, finally. “Um. Did you really walk in on them making out?”

“Fuck.” Louis felt her cheeks heat up. A soft whine escaped her. “I did. It was the worst experience of my entire life, Haz. Liam kept trying to hide under the blanket and Zayn practically had to put her shirt back on. Like-- fuck they were _making out_ under my favorite blanket.”

She knew that Harry was definitely laughing at her, but it didn’t matter. It was worth it. Louis felt okay and Harry was laughing because of her and it was completely worth it.

A lot of people spent their time laughing at her anyways, plenty for far worse reasons than the reason that had given Harry a case of the giggles. Apparently. The reminder of the conversation she’d had with Liam had her feeling rather sick to her stomach.

“Um.” Harry’s laughter suddenly stopped, and Louis turned to look at her, her eyes widening. “We should probably talk about how we want this whole break up thing to go, right?”

Louis didn’t feel okay anymore.

They sat in silence for an awkwardly long time. Louis knew she should say something. She knew that she was just making this whole thing even more awkward. She didn’t know what to say, though. She didn’t want to say anything, and Harry was either thinking the same thing or was just waiting for Louis to talk. And knowing her luck, Harry was probably just waiting for her to say something.

“I, er.” Harry coughed. Louis finally glanced up from her lap. “I know it isn’t fun to talk about, I guess, but we’re still going to be friends, Lou. It’s fine. Honestly. We just have to figure out how we want to end it.”

Louis inhaled a shaky breath. Her fingers grasped at the arm of the chair next to her, needing something to hold onto. “I don’t know.”

“Well, um. I mean I guess we can just say that it wasn’t working, right?”

“Or we could just not,” Louis blurted out. Fuck. Okay. She definitely hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Harry’s brow furrowed. “We could just not what?”

Shit. _Shit_. Well, okay then.

“We could just not break-up,” Louis offered casually. Or, at least, she tried to be casual, but she figured leaning against the wall awkwardly and staring at Harry in fear was probably a really bad attempt at being casual. “I mean. You know.”

Harry looked confused. She reached a hand up and fiddled with the bun piled on top of her head. “Um. No? I don’t think I really know what you’re talking about. Sorry?”

Louis sighed, shoulders sagging. “We could just not break-up. Like we could, um. Actually date, if you wanted to?” She chanced a glance at Harry and winced when she saw the younger girl’s eyes widen. “I just-- I like you a lot, Harry. I really, really do, and I just want to. Um. If you’re okay with it, I’d quite like to take you on a date, or something. We’ve... We’ve had a lot of fun together, you know, pretending like this, and I think it could be even better if it was something real, you know?”

There were a lot of responses that Louis had prepared herself for. The most popular two had been the ideal “yes please, oh god, I was so scared you wouldn’t say anything” or the feared “absolutely not”. What Louis hadn’t expected, really, was for Harry to frown at her and finally reply, “I really don’t think that would work out well, Louis. I’m sorry, but it’s a bad idea. We shouldn’t. We can’t.”

And, well-- just. What?

Louis was just really fucking confused, now.

(Well, she was hurt too, yes. But mostly she was just really, really confused.)

“Why wouldn’t it work out?” She asked quietly.

Harry shifted uncomfortably. Her fingers yanked at her top, and Louis wanted to reach out and grasp at her hands. It was miserable having to watch her shuffle around awkwardly and pretend she was okay when Louis could see so clearly that she wasn’t.

Harry finally just sighed, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t understand, Louis. I’m sorry, okay. I promise that it’s not anything you’ve done.”

“That’s such bullshit,” Louis snapped. “Don’t give me the _it’s not you, it’s me_ speech. Don’t you fucking dare, Styles. Honestly. It’s the worst fucking excuse for anything I’ve heard, and I hate excuses.”

Okay, so she hadn’t exactly meant to lose her shit at Harry, and maybe it wasn’t the best tactic to go with at this point, but Louis was frustrated and tired and she just wanted to cuddle with Harry under a warm blanket and watch a movie. She would much prefer that to this bullshit conversation about how they couldn’t be in a relationship because of something Harry was dealing with.

It was bullshit.

It was bullshit because Louis didn’t want to believe it. It was bullshit because she didn’t want to believe that Harry was the type of person who would give up so easily. It was bullshit because she didn’t want to believe that Harry was the most beautiful and incredible person she’d ever met and Louis was halfway in love with her and she’d already gift Harry the moon if that was what Harry wanted of her, and she would never want to believe that she couldn’t have a piece of Harry.

It wasn’t enough.

It would never be enough.

But Harry looked as if she wanted to run more than anything, and Louis knew it would be so, so selfish to want to keep her here.

(As it turned out, Louis Tomlinson was the most selfish human being in the planet.)

“I’m sorry,” Harry said quietly. She shrugged. “It would never work between us, okay? I just know.”

“It’s worked fine so far,” Louis argued. “And how the fuck can you know if you don’t even want to try, Harry?”

Harry scoffed quietly, kicking at the carpet. “Look. I’ve heard enough rumors, okay? I know that you sleep around a lot, Louis.”

Louis flinched.

She might have found out about those existing rumors as of last night, but that didn’t make the harsh words hurt any less. Especially hearing it from Harry. That was maybe the worst part about it, now. Louis didn’t even care about the awful people who had started the rumors.

(And if she didn’t care because Zayn had promised to get the names from Liam and go fuck them up for her than that was entirely besides the point.)

“I... Harry those are just--”

“Look.” Harry held up her hand, her eyes clenching shut. “I’m sure... I’m sure you know about me, okay? I don’t really try to keep it a secret. I know that. And Niall or Liam probably told you. They’re awful at keeping secrets.”

Louis frowned in confusion. What the fuck was Harry talking about?

Harry sighed and slipped her shoes back on. “I don’t know how you couldn’t know, okay? So can you please stop dragging this out? Because I-- I really like you too, Louis. I do. But just, like. Logistically. It wouldn’t work out. And that really sucks, but it’s the truth. I’m sorry.”

Before Louis could even try and figure out what that meant, Harry was already out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Louis sank back onto the couch, her eyes clenched shut.

She felt so quiet and small. It was the most ridiculous feeling, one she loathed, and one she knew she couldn’t get rid of. It was difficult to be anything other than quiet and small when all she could feel at this very moment in time was sorrow.

Briefly, she wondered if this was what love felt like.

She quickly decided that, if it was, she didn’t want to know.

. . .

Louis hadn’t meant to fall asleep on Niall and Harry’s couch. It had been an honest mistake, really. Just the couch was fairly comfortable and while the pillow she had curled up with was awfully scratchy, it still held that familiar scent of citrus and sandalwood, so she had ignored the annoying itchiness and instead decided to focus on the comforting smell. And, okay, it had been warm too, and there was probably no way she’d have been able to stop herself from falling asleep, even if she’d tried.

She didn’t think she could be blamed for it.

(Sleep would always be the best way to escape any and all problems.)

Niall had woken up her by slamming the door against the wall when he entered. Louis had practically fallen off the couch in shock, eyes widening comically.

“Uh.” Niall snorted. “Hey, Lou. You okay over there?”

“I’m fine.” Louis shook her head. “Sorry. I, erm, didn't mean to fall asleep on your couch or anything, you know? I just. Yeah it was comfortable and stuff. I’m sorry. I’ll leave now.”

She moved to grab her shoes, but Niall reached out a hand to stop her before she could really go anywhere. He looked concerned, and Louis just felt miserable. Completely, utterly, pathetically miserable.

“Are you okay?”

Louis glanced up, wincing as she noticed the frown that had ingrained itself across the lines of Niall’s face. He was looking at her in a way that kind of made Louis want to cry. Just a little bit.

“Not really,” she offered finally. A long sigh escaped her. “Sorry. It’s just, um. It just sucks.”

“Wait. What happened?” Niall wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and the touch was far more comforting than Louis had thought it would be.

Louis shrugged, curling into Niall. Fuck it. He gave good hugs. “Harry said that we should ‘break-up’ and stuff. I, uh. I may have said that we didn't need to do that and we could try saying for real or something, and she really didn't take that well.”

Niall looked confused. Louis understood the feeling far more intimately than she wanted to. “I thought she liked you, though?”

“Yeah, uh. She said she did. She just seemed to think that a relationship really wouldn't work out between the two of us, I guess.” Louis shrugged, her lips twisting into a frown. “She said something about how I ‘must know’ something. Apparently you and Liam have supposedly told me?”

“Oh.” Niall blinked, and then tilted his head in confusion. “Did she think one of us had told you that she's ace?”

_Ace._

Louis stiffened, her eyes widening.

_I know you sleep around, Louis._

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, _shit_.

“Harry’s ace?” Louis croaked out softly. She jerked out of Niall’s arms to stare up at him with wide eyes. Fuck. That would explain so much.

Niall hesitated, his brow furrowing. “Does that bother you or something?”

“No!” Louis was panicking now, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Fuck. _Fuck_ , Niall. Harry is ace.”

Niall was staring at her like she’d grown an extra head and had told him that she was going to go streaking across the Quad. (Okay, well, the second part wasn’t as far fetched as she’d like to pretend it was, but that was entirely besides the point.

“Um.” Niall reached a hand out to steady her. “Yeah, I know that. I’ve kind of known that for years-- are you, uh, okay, Louis?”

Louis was actually fuking _shaking_.

“No,” she whispered. “Fuck, Niall. Harry thinks us dating would be a bad idea because she’s ace and she’s heard all these rumors about me sleeping around.”

Honestly, even saying those words out loud made her feel sick to her stomach.

Niall was nodding quietly. It was kind of unsettling to see him so contemplative and silent, but Louis couldn’t focus on that. “I mean, I guess that would make it difficult, right? You’d kind of have to make sacrifices for her so everything would work out, and Harry always feels guilty about stuff like that, you know?”

“Niall,” Louis breathed out. “Those rumors aren’t true.”

The hands on her shoulders tightened a bit in surprise. Louis winced, crossing her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from the balls of her feet to her heels.

“What? What do you mean?”

Louis could cry right now, really. Honestly. And not the dramatic movie heroine kind of cry. More like gross ugly sobbing kind of crying. It feels appropriate. “Niall. I’m fucking ace too.”

“You’re--” Niall was staring at her. “You’re ace?”

“Fuck.” Louis whined in the back of her throat. “Yes, okay? I’m asexual.”

Niall blinked slowly, and Luis groaned again.

“This whole thing is so fucked,” she whispered quietly. “She... She thinks we wouldn’t work together because of a rumor some asshole spread about me that I didn’t even know about until last night when Liam told me. Fuck. Niall. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

“You have to tell her.”

“No.” Louis shuddered. Hell no. “She already told me no. I don’t know why she’d believe me showing up to try and change her mind and looking so pathetically desperate.”

Niall sighed. He flicked her on the forehead, his calloused finger making her wince briefly, before he crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his hip out to the side. “No she won’t.”

“She will,” Louis insisted.

“Do you remember how I told you that I’m a big believer in true love, Lou?”

Louis didn’t point out how she had no idea what that had to do with their current conversation. She’d quickly figure out that, when it came to Niall, it was better to just not ask at all.

“Yeah. I don’t think I could forget you storming into my apartment like a crazy person.”

Niall rolled his eyes and offered, “Harry’s worse than I am, Louis. She’s like the president of hopeless romantics anonymous.”

“That’s definitely not a thing,” Louis grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest, shrinking in on herself slightly. “Don’t compare love to the AA. That’s so dumb, Niall.”

“You’re dumb,” Niall shot back.

It didn’t take much consideration for Louis to flip him off.

“I’m not.”

“You are. You’re being dumb, Louis.”

Louis would continue arguing-- because she wasn’t being dumb. She wasn’t and she knew that-- but Niall wasn’t the type to take no for an answer. So she simply ran her hands through her hair and pulled herself to her feet, toes sinking into the plush carpet beneath her as she moved to grab her shoes.

Niall’s hand grasping her wrist stopped her. “I know you won’t listen to me, but you should know that Harry will listen to you if you go to talk to her. She spent weeks telling me about the night the two of you spent stargazing. It was kind of gross, actually.”

“Stop.” Louis’s bottom lip trembled.

“No. I won’t.” Niall’s fingers tightened around her small wrists. “You need to go talk to her, Louis, or you’re both just going to be heartbroken and that’s so pointless. Please. As her best friend I’m... I’m begging you. You make her happy. Please go talk to her.”

How the fuck was she supposed to say no to that?

Louis frowned. “You don’t fight fair, Horan.”

Niall was laughing again, and Louis could only respond by shoving him so he tripped over the couch. It was kind of pathetic, but there wasn’t much else she could do.

“Please, Louis,” Niall finally offered when he stopped laughing. His lips were still quirked up in a smile, but Louis chose to ignore that. For Niall’s own good, really. “Go talk to her.”

“Tell me where she is, Horan.”

Fuck. She was going to regret this, wasn’t she?

. . .

Harry’s supposed favorite hiding spot was quiet and peaceful. The slight breeze rustled at the leaves, and the small span of grass surrounded by far too much shrubbery was oddly warm, even though the air was crisp.

It was comforting, really.

Louis could see why Harry hid here.

Brushing past another bush-- honestly, she probably would have worn different shoes if she had known she would be going to be trekking through knee high shrubs for twenty minutes-- Louis finally reached the small patch of grass.

It wasn’t difficult to spot Harry, considering she was the only person there, spread out in a snow angel making position in the grass. She didn’t seem bothered by the odd patches of dry grass that were probably poking her in the back.

She was beautiful.

Harry was always beautiful, though.

She was always beautiful.

And Louis was definitely just distracting herself so she didn’t do something horribly embarrassing because of her nerves.

Fuck.

“Um.” Louis coughed delicately. “H-Harry?”

Harry jerked upright, rolling over, her limbs flailing, to stare at Louis with wide eyes. They were silent for an extended period of time. Louis made an awkward noise in the back of her throat.

“What are you doing here?” Harry breathed out. “How did-- How did you know where I would be?”

Louis inhaled a shaky breath. “Um. Niall-- Niall told me--”

“Oh.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Fuck. _Fuck_. This was so awkward. Dammit.

“Of course he would,” Harry grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest, fingers trailing down her sides to clutch at her hips, and turned away from Louis, leaving Louis staring at curls tumbling over delicately broad shoulders.

“We need to talk, Hazza.”

Harry shook her head slowly, but she didn’t turn. “We already talked. There’s nothing left to talk about. You know that, Louis.”

“No.” Louis stomped her foot and listened to it crinkle across the dry grass dramatically-- which, in hindsight, was probably kind of childish and over the top but she didn’t care. “ _You_ already talked, Harry. You didn’t let me talk at all. And I have a lot of things I need to tell you, so it’s my turn to talk, okay?”

Harry’s head snapped to look at her, and Louis could tell she was surprised. She couldn’t have actually believed that Louis would just give up, though, right? Louis was fairly certain that they knew each other better than that, by now.

“Whatever you heard people saying about me sleeping around is all fake,” Louis said quietly. She curled her fingers to make a fist, mostly so Harry wouldn’t notice her hands shaking. “I... I had no idea people were saying things like that about me until last night when Liam brought the rumors up and everything.”

“What?” Harry’s nose wrinkled.

“I had no idea you were ace, either. Not until Niall told me earlier. Um. Not that it’s a problem or anything just, I had no idea.” She was floundering now, and it was awfully embarrassing. Louis probably shouldn’t be surprised. She managed to embarrass herself in front of Harry a lot, it seemed. “So I wasn’t... I wasn’t trying to be cruel earlier, I promise.”

Harry was silent, and Louis jabbed her shoe at the prickly grass, needing a distraction. Harry barely moved, the air was cold and smelled too much like greasy hot dogs and car exhaust and weed-- a conglomeration of everything that was New York that she’d never be able to escape at this bloody school-- and Louis wanted to scream.

Finally, after what felt like a fucking eternity-- it had probably only been a minute, at most-- Harry turned around to look at her and shrugged. “That still doesn’t change anything, Louis. Like... Um, I’m sorry I judged you off rumors and didn’t ask or anything, but you’re, um. You’re still like everyone else. And I’m not. I’ve tried to have relationships like that before and it’s... Ah. I mean it’s possible and everything but it’s so hard, and I just--”

“Harry.”

Harry’s jaw snapped shut, and she pursed her lips, a frown tugging at the corners. “What?”

Louis couldn’t help the giggle that left her. Harry looked offended, which was the last thing Louis wanted, fuck, but she couldn’t stop laughing. “H-Hazza. I’m... I’m ace too.”

“I--” Harry was gaping openly at her, and Louis was still giggling. She raised a hand to press against her lips so her laughter was muffled, but even that couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking wildly. “You’re... What?”

“I’m asexual.” Louis sighed quietly, a small smile slipping across her features. “I’m very, very much so asexual. I just don’t tell people about it, I guess.”

Was Harry even breathing anymore? Louis couldn’t really tell, but she was barely moving.

Louis reached out, her fingers slipping up Harry’s arm. The hairs on her arm were soft, and Louis smiled a bit.

“You’re--” Harry’s voice choked off a bit. “Can I... Can I kiss you, then?”

Fuck yes.

Louis beamed. Her eyes crinkled around the edges as she stroked her thumb across Harry’s wrist. “You don’t have to ask, Haz. You really don’t.”

Harry beamed back at her, her nose scrunching up. They didn’t even bother to move for a good while, just smiled at each other.

And when Louis leaned in and pressed their lips together, it was pretty much perfect.

. . .

Louis could probably list the things she disliked about dating Harry on one hand, and really, that was being generous. In all honesty, the things she disliked weren’t even really Harry’s fault. They were just things that Louis liked to complain about. And then proceeded to blame on Harry because she was a good girlfriend like that.

One of whining worthy moments was generally caused by Harry’s affinity for deciding to watch a movie at Louis and Zayn’s flat just as Zayn and Liam happened to decide that that very moment was a brilliant time to have their (grossly sappy and kind of vaguely creepy) sexy times.

The novelty of their weirdness-- well, okay, it wasn’t necessarily weird, but they went from sounding like they were in so disgustingly love to sounding like they were trying to murder each other within seconds and Louis would probably spend the rest of her life wondering if that was what all sex was like and then feeling distinctly unsettled by the images that curiosity conjured in her head-- had worn off very quickly after the first time. Much less the next ten times.

Which was when she had come up with a beautiful plan and, Harry, being the most amazing girlfriend in the world, had decided to waste hours of her time indulging Louis.

Louis might have felt bad if Harry hadn’t been giggling about their plan the entire time.

“Did you finish the cake?” Louis questioned softly, raising a hand to her mouth to bite back her laughter.

Harry’s arms snaked around her waist. Lips were pressed against her shoulder in order to muffle Harry’s own soft laughter, and Louis felt her bob her head in a nod. “I did, yeah. Obviously. Niall said he’ll be here in two minutes with his guitar.”

“I can’t believe he agreed to do this.” Louis’s whisper carried over the soft sound of a the movie they’d left on playing. She was still trying her best not to crack up laughing. That would spoil everything. Zayn and Liam didn’t even know they were here, after all, and they couldn’t ruin everything because they wanted to laugh about how hilarious they actually were.

(And Louis _knew_ she was fucking hysterical.)

Harry snorted and pressed a kiss to her neck. “Niall will never say no to The Lonely Island and cake. I promise you that.”

“Ah, score. I know exactly how to bribe him into doing my homework for me, then.” Louis cracked a grin as she felt Harry’s shoulders shaking.

“Stop it! You’re going to make me laugh and I’m going to spoil everything.”

“No. Absolutely not, Harry. You can’t fucking ruin this for me.”

Harry whined quietly and pulled away from their hold. She refused to let go of Louis’ hands, though, and that was a lovely feeling.

Everything with Harry was kind of lovely.

Except for their extensive knowledge of Zayn and Liam’s weird noises.

That was... Not as lovely.

The door creaked open, and Louis whirled around to grin at Niall. “Hey,” she greeted.

“Hey yourself,” Niall shot back, slinging his arms over their shoulders. He pressed a dramatic and wet kiss to Harry’s cheeks before draping himself over Louis, his nose burying in her hair. It probably should have been weirder than it was. “Lou. I just want to say that this fucking brilliant. I hope one of you is going to film their reactions because Liam will be so embarrassed and I need it documented for the rest of time so I can show it to everyone at his and Zayn’s wedding.”

Louis snorted into her hand. “Yeah, Haz and I set up a couple cameras. Don’t worry, we weren’t going to let this go to waste.”

Niall winked at her as he untangled himself from Harry and Louis. He grabbed his guitar out of its case and slung it over his shoulders, shifting on this feet to bounce to whatever tune was on repeat in his head. Louis wrinkled her nose and glanced at the door to Zayn’s room.

They were silent for a long moment.

“It sounds like they’re done,” Harry offered calmly.

Niall nodded seriously, and Louis almost burst out laughing at the look of pure concentration that was on his face. “Okay, okay. So they’ll come out here within a few minutes, right?”

“Yup!” Louis chirped. “You ready for this shit?”

Harry tangled their hands together again and nodded with a wide smile. Niall’s lips twitched into a smirk as he offered, “I was born ready for this.”

Louis, after everything had finally been sorted out with Harry, had discovered that Niall was definitely one of her favorite people in the whole world and not as insane as he’d seemed when he’d burst into her apartment and told her she had to pretend to be in a relationship with Harry.

He was still kind of crazy, but it was an amusing crazy, so Louis put up with it.

A scuffling sound came from down the hall, and Louis jerked upright, waving her hands frantically so Niall and Harry would know to be quiet. Soft laughter, low and gruff and soft and bright twisting together melodiously, floated down the hallway.

Louis was already smirking. She just knew she was.

Zayn and Liam tumbled out of the hallway, practically wrapped around each other, and Niall was strumming a song out on his guitar before they’d even realized they weren’t alone.

... And, okay, maybe, just _maybe_ , a jazzy rendition of I Just Had Sex by The Lonely Island performed by herself and her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s best friend-- complete with cake and confetti and everything-- wasn’t necessarily the most mature way to point out that her roommate needed to establish some boundaries, but Louis had never claimed to be mature.

All she had claimed to be was hilarious.

And this whole thing was fucking hilarious.

Liam’s face was absolutely priceless, his mouth hanging open and his eyes so wide-- it looked quite uncomfortable, really-- and his face a brighter red color than the brand new throw pillows that Harry had insisted Louis get because they were really soft and had cute little penguins on them.

Zayn looked stunned. Speechless, actually. It was a look Louis had never seen on her face, and she was horribly proud of herself for putting it there, even if Zayn started laughing only a minute later.

Liam kind of looked like he was in pain.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Harry was giggling through her singing and Niall was cackling as he worked his way through the last of the chords. Louis snatched up a handful of confetti and threw it at Liam and Zayn. She really wasn’t above anything right now, especially not with the way Harry was laughing her loud head thrown back cackle, now.

They finished the song-- jazz hands and all, obviously, because Louis wasn’t an idiot and jazz hands were the best dance move in existence-- and Harry collapsed against her, giggling into her hair. Niall looked like he was having the time of his life. Zayn kind of did too, even though she was bright red and slumped against the wall.

Liam looked mortified, and Louis had never been prouder of herself.

“Oh!” Harry said with a bright smile. “We made you a cake, too! For like congratulations and everything.”

Liam’s face slowly become even more horrified-- Louis honestly hadn’t thought that was possible-- and Harry beamed widely, winking at him.

“Why?” Liam groaned quietly.

Niall cackled softly and threw his arms over Louis and Harry’s shoulders, pulling them against him with such force that they three of them swayed precariously.

“Because we’re fabulous, and you’re loud and gross,” Louis declared calmly.

Zayn pulled herself upright and moved to wrap her arms around Liam. “You’re a dumbass, Lou,” she declared, but the affection in her tone was clear, and Louis preened.

Liam grumbled something about her being a menace that made Zayn and Harry laugh. Louis flipped all of them off, but pressed a soft kiss to Harry’s cheek as she turned her middle fingered vengeance on her. Soft laughter shook through Harry and made Louis sway in her arms, but she just smiled, pressing her face into Harry’s shoulder.

“Ummm, guys?” Niall made an impatient noise. “I only came here for the cake, and I maybe already started eating it, so if you want any of it you’d better hurry up.”

Louis groaned and pulled herself out of Harry’s arms to stare at the mess Niall had managed to create in just a few minutes. “Why do you make a mess of everything?” She asked on a pathetic groan. Harry laughed at her whining and went to the cake, cutting up slices and offering them to everyone around the room.

Louis accepted the piece that was handed to her and nibbled at it, curling back into Harry as Harry’s arm moved around her shoulders again.

Niall turned to the side and beamed at her, his hip cocking out dramatically. He was absolutely mocking her, and Louis was going to stab him with her fork after she finished eating her cake. “I’m a menace and you know it.”

Louis did know it. She absolutely knew it.

Everything was always Niall’s fault. Always.

As Louis pressed her lips gently against Harry’s, both of them giggling into their sticky sweet frosting heavy kiss, she decided that maybe that really wasn’t such a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!
> 
> comments and kudos would mean the world to me <3
> 
> there's a reboggable post [here](http://nauticalallusions.tumblr.com/post/140011364163/title-all-these-little-games-author-jwdish98) if you want to hit that up, and I'm also on tumblr as [nauticalallusions](http://nauticalallusions.tumblr.com/) if you want to pop over and say hi and chat or anything! :')


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